How to grow bougainvillea so it blooms non-stop? Master the 3 key points of planting and management

The Start of Autumn has passed, and there is a hint of coolness in the air. Having endured the summer heat, many flower lovers are already thinking about what varieties to plant in autumn. Bougainvillea has become a favorite flower for many enthusiasts, but its cold tolerance is poor. Without protective measures, it will drop its leaves at 5 degrees above zero, and will freeze to death at minus ten degrees. That is why many friends in the south grow bougainvillea. Setting aside this shortcoming of poor cold tolerance, bougainvillea's blooming ability is quite good, but you still need to pay attention to management, otherwise it easily grows only foliage without flowering. Below, the editor has compiled the 3 key points of bougainvillea care and management. Let's learn them together.

Point one: Control water to encourage flowering

Bougainvillea loves sunlight and is not afraid of being scorched by the sun. It has low water requirements; whether potted or planted in the ground, keeping the soil moist is enough. In autumn and winter, it is best to control water for a month and a half, keeping the soil half dry and half moist. Even if the green leaves drop, it does not matter; controlling water actually helps promote flowering. This is also the reason why home-grown bougainvillea "blooms not when tended diligently, but blooms continuously when neglected."

Point two: Fertilizing

After the weather warms up in spring, apply a nitrogen fertilizer once every 20 days; during the growing season, apply a cake fertilizer once a month; during the peak flowering season, apply phosphorus fertilizer several more times. Fertilizing mainly uses these three kinds of fertilizer, which mainly target the growth and flowering of bougainvillea. When these three fertilizers are sufficient, the flowering period can be extended by two months, and the flower quantity can also double.

Bougainvillea is relatively sensitive to urea, so use this fertilizer as little as possible; if the proportion is not handled well, it will only grow leaves without flowering. In winter, bougainvillea's demand for fertilizer drops sharply, so in winter, keep the fertilizing frequency at one third of that in summer, and the amount at one third as well.

Point three: Loosening the soil

In autumn, generally at the end of October, loosen the soil around the roots of bougainvillea. For potted plants, you can also change the soil, because if the soil at the roots is not loosened for a long time, it will cake into hard clumps, which is not good for the bougainvillea roots to absorb nutrients.

If you are changing the soil for potted plants, the main root needs to be protected and must not be damaged too much; severe damage may cause the seedling to wither and die, so pay attention to this point.

The above are the 3 key points on bougainvillea planting and management compiled by the editor of Huinong Network. If you do these three points well - fertilizing, controlling water, and loosening the soil - bougainvillea can bloom continuously year after year.

Key points for autumn flower cultivation and management

News from China Landscape Network on October 15: All flowers that have passed through the high-temperature season enter another growth peak in autumn. At this time, sunlight is abundant and the temperature is suitable, so the supply of fertilizer and water nutrients should be increased, so that the flower plants have a strong nutritive body before winter arrives.

General care measures

1. Strengthen fertilizer and water management

Apply phosphorus and potassium fertilizer to flowers that go dormant in winter. Flowers that do not go dormant in winter can still be given nitrogen fertilizer; especially foliage plants should still be given fertilizer mainly based on nitrogen. However, when applying it, attention should be paid to combining it with phosphorus and potassium fertilizer. Reasonable application of phosphorus and potassium fertilizer can improve the cold resistance of flowers. Plants that bloom in winter, such as cineraria, pocketbook flower, cyclamen, poinsettia, and wintersweet, are in the vegetative growth period in early autumn and should be given fertilizer mainly based on nitrogen; in late autumn they are mostly in the bud stage, and when fertilizing such flowers, phosphorus and potassium fertilizer should be the main type and nitrogen fertilizer supplementary; too much nitrogen fertilizer is not conducive to winter flowering. For flowers and nursery stock planted in the open field, generally do not water unless the soil is dry; when watering, water thoroughly. Potted flowers should be watered frequently and thoroughly; it is not advisable to water only halfway, causing the top to be wet and the bottom dry, which affects root growth. Also prevent excessive watering, which causes root rot. After entering autumn, the water supply should be controlled to promote the ripening of new shoots and avoid flowers and nursery stock from producing new shoots in late autumn and winter, which is not conducive to overwintering. However, in early or mid-autumn, because the temperature is relatively high, flowers and nursery stock produce new shoots; during this period, water should be supplied abundantly to ensure that the new shoots can grow and ripen in time. In autumn, watering time should be in the morning and afternoon. The purpose is to keep the water temperature close to the soil temperature, which is conducive to absorption and avoids damaging the roots.

2. Pay attention to flowering period regulation

Many flowers are scheduled to bloom during New Year's Day and the Spring Festival, so forcing cultivation or retarding cultivation should be carried out. For example, baby's breath is a long-day flower; if it is required to bloom in winter, supplementary lighting must start in early September, generally adding 4 hours of light from 10:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m., for 1 consecutive month. Chrysanthemum is a short-day flower, and supplementary lighting is also necessary to delay its flowering. Supplementary lighting also starts from early to mid-September and stops 50 days before the expected flowering. For some warmth-loving flowers, such as anthurium, bird of paradise, and phalaenopsis, note that heating should be added when the average daily temperature is below 15°C. For lilies cultivated in autumn and winter, in addition to heating at low temperatures, supplementary lighting is also needed to prevent hidden buds.

3. Strengthen pest and disease control

The main autumn pests are: for carnation and baby's breath, prevent cabbage caterpillar; for gerbera, prevent spider mites; for chrysanthemum, prevent cabbage caterpillar and aphids; for lily, prevent aphids, etc. Main diseases: chrysanthemum leaf spot, rose black spot and powdery mildew, carnation leaf spot, gerbera leaf spot, etc. Diseases should be prevented mainly, paying attention to ventilation, reducing air humidity in the greenhouse, increasing phosphorus and potassium fertilizer, improving plant disease resistance, and spraying chemicals for protection and control.

4. Intertillage and weeding

Intertillage can loosen the surface soil, reduce water evaporation, increase soil moisture, promote air circulation in the soil and the decomposition of nutrients, and create good conditions for flower root growth and nutrient absorption. Weeding can prevent weeds from competing with flowers for soil nutrients, water, and sunlight. Intertillage can weed at the same time, but weeding cannot replace intertillage. The depth of intertillage is generally 3 to 5 cm. At the same time, intertillage and weeding can also help prevent pests and diseases and reduce the probability of pest and disease occurrence the following year.

5. Shaping and pruning

Autumn shaping and pruning should focus mainly on "light" pruning, avoiding excessive "heavy" pruning that causes weakened tree vigor and even dead seedlings. Pruning methods mainly include pinching and branch trimming. Focus on the plant's natural form and shape it as needed. Among them, tree types are mainly pruned by branch trimming, highlighting the main trunk and ensuring the trunk reaches a certain height before allowing it to branch; shrub types are mainly pinched to maintain their original shape or promote an ideal shape and expand their crown width. Shaping and pruning can improve the quality of flowers.

Management of flowers planted in courtyard ground beds

1. Transplanting

For the arrangement of newly built courtyards or the renovation of old courtyards, ground-planted flowers can also be transplanted provided they are moved with a good soil ball. Transplanting requires intensive pruning, and watering and shading management must be strengthened to ensure that transplanting is completely successful.

2. Pruning and pinching

Continue pruning courtyard hedges and ball-shaped ornamental plants that grow vigorously and have strong sprouting ability. This is also the last pruning in the growing season for courtyard hedges and ball-shaped plants in northern regions in autumn. Courtyard hedges and color-block plants suitable for pruning mainly include: boxwood types, French holly, photinia, privet, small-leaf privet, red-leaf barberry, golden-leaf privet, golden-edged Oriental arborvitae, etc. Ball-shaped ornamental plants suitable for pruning include: dragon juniper, Chinese juniper, bayberry, Chinese holly, wintergreen, photinia, pittosporum, firethorn, forsythia, etc. Ground-planted herbaceous flowers that can be pinched include: scarlet sage, globe amaranth, sulfur cosmos, summer cypress, marigold, French marigold, etc. Pinching should be done once every 10 days to promote a full plant shape and produce more flower clusters on the side shoots; stop pinching after late September.

3. Seed collection

The woody ornamental plants from which seeds can be collected are mainly flowering trees of the Magnoliaceae family. For Magnoliaceae as well as yew, horse chestnut, crabapple types, etc., after treatment the seeds must be stored in wet sand until early spring of the following year, and sown after the seeds crack. Herbaceous flower seeds that can be collected include: marigold, zinnia, garden balsam, four-o'clock, cockscomb, periwinkle, strawflower, aster, etc. After collection, thresh them promptly and store them dry until spring of the following year before sowing.

Management of potted flowers in courtyards

1. Pruning

For potted chrysanthemums, continue to do a good job of disbudding and bud removal; for rose, pomegranate, milan, jasmine, chloranthus, bougainvillea, lantana, golden shrimp plant, coral plant, etc., prune after each flowering; for those stump bonsai types that tolerate pruning, sprout easily, and grow vigorously, continue to prune or pinch buds.

2. Pest and disease control

Pests and diseases of autumn flowers are somewhat reduced compared with summer, so pest and disease management should focus mainly on prevention. For the peach red-necked longhorn beetle appearing on potted plum, crabapple, longevity peach, flowering peach, and other plants, poisoned sticks can be inserted to block and kill them, or they can be controlled by burying carbofuran granules. For Japanese wax scale, cottony cushion scale, armored scale, felt scale, etc., appearing on potted flowering trees, use a 1500-fold dilution of 40% Supracide for control.

Key points for autumn courtyard flower cultivation and management